July 25 Manitowoc, Wisconsin to Ludington, Michigan

I’m on the S.S. Badger cruising across Lake Michigan as I write this. The Badger is a 410-foot ferry built in 1952 to carry railway cars across Lake Michigan. It’s now been converted for cars, trucks, motorcycles and, of course, bicycles. It’s a beautiful day for a cruise — glassy smooth water and a cloudless sky. A few years ago, on this very same cross-country bike ride, two riders got married in Manitowoc and then spent their honeymoon in a stateroom on the S.S. Badger. It’s only a four-hour crossing so I wouldn’t call that much of a honeymoon.

Today is officially a rest day even though we’re moving from one place to another. This

Can we see impure Michigan?

morning, Suellen and I slept late. Then we rousted out Dave & Fran (Suellen’s brother and his wife), found the Locomotive and Columbus Dan and all drove north to the town of Two Rivers where we met Lou and Betty Benedetto for breakfast. The cafe had floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on Lake Michigan. It’s beautiful, though I must say, it’s rather flat for a Colorado boy. After breakfast, Loco, Columbus Dan, and I biked over to the ferry. Dave & Fran drove back to Chicago and Suellen drove back to Milwaukee to fly home to Denver this afternoon.

I won’t see Suellen again until New Hampshire… but that’s not so far away. Our ride ends two weeks from today. It’s hard to believe that it’s going so fast and I think all of us riders are sorry that it’s coming to an end. Still, it’s going to be awfully nice to relax and enjoy our backyard again.

Sleeping Loco

Tomorrow is a 113-mile day from Ludington to Mount Pleasant. In fact, it’s the last century on our ride. After tomorrow, the longest ride remaining is a “mere” 93 miles. By the time we finish this tour, we’ll finally be in good enough shape to do a trans-continental ride. Maybe I should just ride back to Colorado.